EMS Week

In 1974, President Gerald Ford authorized EMS Week to celebrate EMS practitioners and the important work they do in our nation's communities. National Emergency Medical Services Week brings together local communities and medical personnel to honor the dedication of those who provide the day-to-day lifesaving services of medicine's frontline. EMS Week is presented by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) in partnership with the National Associations of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT). Together, NAEMT and ACEP lead annual EMS Week activities. These organizations are working to ensure that the important contributions of EMS practitioners in safeguarding the health, safety, and well-being of their communities are fully celebrated and recognized.

EMS Week 2025

Memorial Ceremony

  • When: Wednesday, May 21, 2025, 11:00 AM
  • Where: Maine EMS Memorial Site, State House Complex, Capital Street, Augusta
  • What: In partnership with Friends of EMS for Maine, the memorial ceremony will include at least one new Line of Duty Death observance and recognition of past observed Line of Duty Deaths, as well as saluting all of us who make EMS available every day. Remarks by officers of the Legislature and by some of Maine’s soon-to-be EMS professionals will be featured. Please join us to help spread the EMS spirit!

Awards Ceremony

  • When: Wednesday, May 21, 2025, 1:00 PM
  • Where: Hall of Flags, State House, Capital Street, Augusta
  • What: The Maine EMS Awards Committee will select recipients for the 2025 Maine EMS Awards. The awards conferred to those recipients recognize the outstanding contributions and achievements of EMS clinicians, partners, and organizations throughout Maine.

It’s a day to give gratitude to EMS professionals for their unwavering commitment to serve their communities and is an homage to this year’s 51st anniversary theme of EMS Week: We Care. For Everyone.

Two EMS professionals with a stretcher in front of an ambulance with the EMS Week dates of May 18 through May 24, 2025 and the EMS Week theme of We Care For Everyone.

EMS Week 2024

  • The 2024 EMS week is from May 19 through May 25, 2024.  It is the 50th anniversary of EMS week and the national theme for this year is “Honoring Our Past. Forging Our Future,” reminding us to acknowledge the foundational work of those who came before us, while also striving to build and lead the EMS system we envision for our future. 
  • The Maine EMS Awards Committee has selected recipients for the 2024 Maine EMS Awards. The awards conferred to these recipients recognize the outstanding contributions and achievements of our EMS clinicians, partners, and organizations throughout Maine.
  • There will be two events on May 23 you may be interested in attending and being a part of:
  • 11 am: Remembrance ceremony at the Maine EMS Memorial (On the grounds of the capitol building, next to State Street and adjacent to the Fire & Law Enforcement memorials)
  • Approximately 12pm (upon conclusion of the remembrance ceremony): Maine EMS  Awards in the Hall of Flags at the Capitol Building in Augusta.
  • Governor Mills EMS Week Proclamation 2024 (PDF)
  • Message from NHTSA Director of EMS Gam Wijetunge (Youtube)
  • Message from NREMT (PDF)
  • List of 2024 award recipients (PDF)
  • Directions to the Maine State House
  • EMS Week Logo
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  • Sunday is Health, Wellness, and Resilience Day
  • Sunday of EMS Week is Health, Wellness, and Resilience Day to promote the health, wellness and resilience of EMS providers and patients. Health, Wellness, and Resilience Day highlights the need to recognize and care for the health and wellness of EMS providers and patients and share ideas on strengthening resilience. It is an opportunity to step back and take care of ourselves through self-care as well as to care for our fellow EMS professionals and the patients who are in our care every day.
  • Monday is Education Day
  • Monday of EMS Week is Education Day, highlighting public education programs and EMS provider education.  Education Day seeks to highlight community educational programs, as well as the importance of continuing education for EMS practitioners. This is the ideal day to plan a community injury or illness prevention program and a special CE course for your agency. Consider in-person or online community education programs related to the prevention of falls, burns, poisoning or drowning.
  • Tuesday is EMS Safety Day
  • This day is to promote Safety for the EMS provider, the patient, and the public.  Safety Day encourages first responders to focus on risk and prevention rather than possible negative outcomes and aims to promote the advancement of safety measures for both the community and the profession. This is a great day to highlight stress reduction, self-care and mental health awareness programs. Other options for programs include improved situational awareness, driving and roadway safety, vehicle and device maintenance, proper lifting techniques or violence awareness.
  • Wednesday is EMS for Children Day
  • EMS for Children Day highlights the distinctive physiological and psychological aspects of caring for children and serves as an opportunity to raise awareness about improving specialized care for children in pre-hospital and acute care settings. Consider planning a pediatric care educational event for your clinicians and a community program related to first aid, emergency preparedness, car seats or bicycle safety.
  • Three EMS CEH pediatric classes will be offered via zoom.  Visit this link for more information.
  • Thursday is Save-A-Life Day
  • This day is to promote Stop the Bleed, public CPR programs and other programs It doesn’t matter how quickly EMS practitioners get to a scene—bystanders will almost always be there first. Save-A-Life Day empowers the general public to learn and apply steps that can be taken to help save a life. This is an ideal day to schedule community CPR and Stop the Bleed educational courses. Take advantage of the many programs and toolkits available that make it easier to coordinate these programs.
  • Friday is EMS Recognition Day
  • This day serves to recognize your local EMS heroes and those who save lives through the EMS system. On EMS Recognition Day, we honor members of the EMS community who regularly go above and beyond what’s expected. It’s a day to give gratitude to first responders for their unwavering commitment to serve their communities. Plan a memorial ceremony, an awards event, a special meal, a gift-giving event and other honors for EMS Recognition Day.
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EMS Week 2023

  • Happy EMS week to all of those providing and supporting emergency medical care! Each day of EMS Week has a different theme or area of focus. We will be sharing information throughout the week, and hope you are celebrating with your local community and agency.
  • EMS Week 2023 Proclamation from US President Joe Biden
  • EMS Week 2023 Proclamation from Maine Governor Janet Mills (PDF)
  • Thank you letter from Maine EMS Chair Brent Libby, Director Sam Hurley, and Medical Director Dr. Matt Sholl (PDF)
  • Thank you video from Gam Wijetunge, Director, National Office of EMS, NHTSA
  • Thank you video from Susan Bailey, NAEMT President
  • Sunday of EMS Week is Health, Wellness, and Resilience Day to promote the health, wellness and resilience of EMS providers and patients. Health, Wellness, and Resilience Day highlights the need to recognize and care for the health and wellness of EMS providers and patients and share ideas on strengthening resilience. It is an opportunity to step back and take care of ourselves through self-care as well as to care for our fellow EMS professionals and the patients who are in our care every day.
  • Responding with Resilience: Mental Wellness in EMS (Youtube video)
  • Monday of EMS Week is Education Day, highlighting public education programs and EMS provider education.  Education Day seeks to highlight community educational programs, as well as the importance of continuing education for EMS practitioners. This is the ideal day to plan a community injury or illness prevention program and a special CE course for your agency. Consider in-person or online community education programs related to the prevention of falls, burns, poisoning or drowning.
  • Thank you letter from Maine Community College (PDF)
  • Maine EMS is launching a new virtual reality training opportunity, building off the success of the EMS for Children VR trainings. These new adult scenarios are built specifically to Maine protocols, letting you practice what you would really do in the field. Reach out to MEMS.VR@maine.gov to schedule a training, reserve headsets, and more!
  • Maine EMS Adult Virtual Reality Training Program Flyer (PDF)
  • Tuesday of EMS week is Safety Day! Check out the most recent version of the Maine EMS Safety Newsletter
  • Happy EMS week! Today is #EMSForChildrenDay ! Join Maine EMS in thanking all of the EMS providers in Maine and nationwide for answering 2.7 million calls for pediatric patients in 2022 and watch this EMSC Thank You video.
  • AED access
  • Happy EMS week! Thursday is Save A Life day, and one way you can help is to register the location of publicly accessible AEDs. Watch the video on the link below, download the app, and you can enter the information about the AED, and it will be sent to Maine EMS, reviewed and then pushed out to all PSAPs statewide. You do not need to do this for ambulances/firetrucks/police cars or other non publicly accessible AEDs, but all others are strongly encouraged to enter the info and make it available in pulsepoint in cases of cardiac arrest, and use to help save a life! https://www.pulsepoint.org/pulsepoint-aed
  • Stop the Bleed
  • Launched as a national public awareness campaign by the White House in 2015, the Stop the Bleed campaign seeks to train more of the public to provide immediate care in the event of mass-causality situations. As the result, actions led by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, the Stop the Bleed campaign seeks to bring a greater understanding on the initial steps in bleeding control. After an extensive study of tourniquet use by the U.S. military in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, the benefits were clearly shown. Follow-up studies in 2014 showed similar benefits in the civilian population and additional actions such as direct pressure techniques and wound packing provided an arsenal of treatments that could be safely implemented by non-medically trained individuals.
  • Letter to EMS Community - 2023 EMS Awards
  • (PDF)
  • Sunday is Health, Wellness, and Resilience Day
  • Monday is Education Day
  • Tuesday is EMS Safety Day
  • Wednesday is EMS for Children Day
  • Thursday is Save-A-Life Day
  • Friday is EMS Recognition Day

EMS Week 2022

EMS Week 2021

EMS Week 2020